Top 10 Famous Foods Invented by Accident

Our favourite food could possibly be the result of an accidental discovery.

While it’s easy to think that many of our favourite food items come about through a rigorous process of invention, there are still many unique items invented by accident. Here they are.

10. Tarte Tatin

Devised accidentally in the 1880’s, the Tarte Tatin was accidentally made by Stephanie Tatin. One day, Stephanie over baked the apples she was planning to use for an apple pie. Without wanting to waste, Stephanie added the pastry base to the top and flipped over the tart upon removing it from the oven, giving existence to the first Tarte Tatin.

9. Worcestershire Sauce

A 1930’s creation that is attributed to John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, Worcestershire Sauce started out as something of a failure for the drug-store chemists.

8. Crepes Suzette

Crepes Suzette is another specialty dish whose origin is much contested. In 1895, the 14-year old waiter Henri Charpentier was serving the Prince of Wales, and burnt the sugar and butter that comprised the sauce as he prepared crepes for the special guest.

7. Ice Cream Cone

While it’s believed that the ice cream cone was popularized at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the most common story is that Abe Doumar decided to roll up some of the waffle pastries he had available to help another vendor who had run out of dishes in which to hold ice cream.

Though who truly came up with the idea is still a question, there’s no doubt that the ice cream cone became an extremely popular treat after 1904.

6. Corn Flakes

A cereal that still persists in popularity today, Corn Flakes were actually a surprise for Dr. John Harvey Kellogg who invented them in 1895.

After some cooked wheat was left out accidentally, Kellogg and his brother let it go stale before they processed it through rollers. While the brothers were surprised by the hard flaked wheat, they served the makeshift cereal to patients.

5. Cheese Puffs

It was machine operator Edward Wilson who took the puffed pieces home and made a unique, seasoned treat, but the rest of the world got to taste the unique puff under the brand name they were first known as, Korn Kurls.

4. Yogurt

The creation of yogurt, more an accident of nature than a human mishap, was believed to come to be after milk began to be transported. As the milk was placed in goatskin sacks, the combination of milk and the bacteria from the sacks caused the milk to curdle, leading to the process by which yogurt is made.

3. Sandwich

While the immensely popular sandwich is another food item whose discovery is in question, it’s believed that its creation occurred when John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, asked his servant to bring him a piece of meat between two slices of bread while playing a card game.

2. Champagne

While Champagne was first popularly produced in France’s eponymously named region, it is believed that the British doctor Christopher Merret actually came up with the concept of the drink in the 1660’s after determining that adding sugar to wine and bottling it led to a second fermentation.

1. Coca-Cola

The most famous non-alcoholic drink of them all, the popular, carbonated Coke actually started out as an alcoholic beverage.

Invented by Dr. John Stith Pemberton in 1885 as a means in which to calm his patients, the drink then known as Pemberton’s French Wine Coca was forced to change its alcoholic ingredient with the onset of Prohibition.